Dineen selected to AHL Hall of Fame Class of 2014

Longtime Adirondack Red Wings coach Bill Dineen is one of four people selected for induction into the American Hockey League Hall of Fame as the Class of 2014, the AHL announced today.

Joining Dineen as the ninth group of enshrinees are Al MacNeil, Bob Perreault and John Slaney.

The class will be honored as part of the festivities for the 2014 AHL All-Star Classic on Feb. 12 in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Dineen’s career included two turns in the American Hockey League — first as a player, then as a coach.

A native of Arvida, Quebec., he played five seasons in the NHL and won two Stanley Cups with the Detroit Red Wings before making his AHL debut with the Buffalo Bisons in 1958. Dineen topped the 20-goal mark four times in his six years with Buffalo, Cleveland, Rochester and Quebec, and made appearances in the Calder Cup Finals in 1959 and 1964.

Dineen turned to coaching and won championships in both the Western Hockey League and the World Hockey Association before returning to the AHL as Adirondack head coach in 1983. In six seasons behind the bench in Glens Falls, he won the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as the AHL’s outstanding coach in 1985 and 1986, and he led the A-Wings to Calder Cup titles in 1986 and 1989.

Dineen was Adirondack general manager in 1989-90, and later was head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.

He still lives in the Glens Falls area, as many of his former players also did. His sons Shawn, Peter, Gord, Kevin and Jerry all went on to play and/or coach in the AHL.

Bill Dineen tallied 271 points in 391 AHL games during his playing career and earned a coaching record of 246-182-52. He is one of just 12 coaches ever to win more than one Calder Cup, and one of only two to earn the Pieri Award in consecutive seasons.